House, More Particularly an Emergency House

ABSTRACT

House, more particularly a dismountable house or emergency house, characterised in that it mainly consists of a container ( 2 ) against which is provided an extension ( 6 ) in the form of a prismatic construction, which is built of a supporting structure in the form of a frame ( 7 ) and floor elements and cover elements.

The present invention concerns a house, more particularly a dismountablehouse or emergency house.

Known emergency houses usually consist of tents or the like which can beerected in a relatively short time in order to be able to offer shelterin case of natural disasters or the like.

A disadvantage of such known tents is that they often have limiteddimensions and that they are not sufficiently resistant againstearthquakes or heavy storms, such that they may collapse, break down orcan even be swept away by a fierce gust of wind.

Prefabricated houses are already known, whereby the walls, floors andceilings of the house are manufactured beforehand and are transported tothe desired location to be assembled into a whole there.

Although the actual construction of the house requires relatively littletime, the production process as a whole is very time-consuming, sincethe manufacture of the walls and partitions as such already requiresquite some time.

It also turns out that the transport of such pre-fabricated walls,floors, ceilings and the like is very laborious, due to the large volumeand fragility of these parts. It is indeed found in practice that one orseveral pre-fabricated walls or the like are often damaged, which isvery expensive and which leads to repairs and the actual constructionbeing delayed.

An additional disadvantage of such known pre-fabricated houses is thatthey must often be provided with foundations in order to obtain aconstruction which is sufficiently stable.

The present invention aims to offer a house, more particularly adismountable house or emergency house, which can be built in a shorttime on any ground whatsoever, without any foundations being required,whereby all the accessories for realising the house are always availablein a very compact manner and whereby the house can be dismounted andtransported in a fast and simple manner.

To this end, the present invention concerns a house, more particularly adismountable house or emergency house, whereby this house mainlyconsists of a container against which is provided an extension in theshape of a prismatic construction, which is built of a supportingstructure in the form of a frame and floor elements and cover elements.

In order to better explain the characteristics of the present invention,the following preferred embodiments of a house according to theinvention are described as an example only without being limitative inany way, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 represents a house according to the invention;

FIG. 2 represents a section according to line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 to 6 represent the construction of a house according to theinvention in steps;

FIG. 7 represents the part indicated by F7 in FIG. 6 to a larger scale;

FIG. 8 represents a variant of a house according to the presentinvention.

As represented in FIGS. 1 and 2, a house 1 according to the inventionmainly consists of a container 2 with a bottom 3, three side walls 4Aand a side wall 4B which is provided with access hatches in the knownmanner, and a top wall 5, whereby two opposite standing side walls 4 andan extension 6 in the form of a prismatic construction is provided,whose cross section is an isosceles and more particularly an equilateraltriangle.

Every extension 6 is hereby directed crosswise to the container 2 and isbuilt of a supporting structure in the shape of a frame 7, whereby, bymeans of floor elements and cover elements which are provided againstthe frame 7, a living space is defined.

In the given example, the extension 6 extends on each side of thecontainer 2 above the container 2, and both extensions are connected toeach other by means of an intermediate part, to thus obtain a continuousliving space which extends over the container 2.

FIGS. 3 to 6 represent the construction of such a house 1 during thesuccessive steps of the realisation of the house 1 in greater detail.

Every above-mentioned frame 7 consists of parallel, triangular andvertical sections 8, which are in this case isosceles and moreparticularly equilateral, and each side of which is composed of threeprofiles 9 of equal length which are equal or almost equal to the heightof the container 2, multiplied by the tangent of 30°.

The above-mentioned profiles 9 are connected to each other by means ofsuitable connecting pieces which are not represented in the figures,which make it possible to fix two or several of such profiles 9 to eachother with their far ends.

For every vertical section 8, the centre distance between connectingpieces lying next to each other is equal to the height of the container2, multiplied by the tangent of 30°.

The vertical sections 8 are placed such that their bottom side 10 issituated horizontally and they are situated at the same height as thebottom 3 of the above-mentioned container 2.

The above-mentioned (connecting pieces of the inclined, standing sidesof the above-mentioned sections 8 are mutually connected by means ofhorizontal profiles 11 which are preferably equally long as theabove-mentioned profiles 9 and which, given their length, are situatedat the height of the top side 5 of the container 2 and at a height whichis equal to twice the height of the container 2.

The above-mentioned vertical sections 8 of every extension are mutuallyconnected by means of horizontal cross profiles 12 which are preferablyequally long as the above-mentioned profiles 9.

The adjacent sections of the extensions 6 are connected to each other bymeans of intermediate connecting profiles 13.

As the above-mentioned profiles 9 and 11 and the cross profiles 12 canall be made having the same length, they can be produced in series,which is considerably time- and money-saving.

An additional advantage thereof is that the mounting is madeconsiderably easier, and the risk of faults is minimized, as the choiceis limited to only one profile length, as a result of which also thestacking of the loose profiles is made easier.

The above-mentioned vertical sections 8 are in this case mutuallyconnected as well, in order to reinforce the construction, by means ofone or several metal cross bracings 14.

The above-mentioned metal profiles 9 and 11, cross profiles 12 and/orcross bracings 14 are connected to each other by means of theabove-mentioned connecting pieces which hold two or several profilestogether by means of bolts or the like.

The above-mentioned cover elements are in this case formed of metalcover plates 15 which are fixed to the above-mentioned supportingstructure in a suitable manner, fitting against each other, to thus forma roof covering and end walls of the house 1.

The floors are formed of floor elements in the shape of floor slabs 16which are provided on the above-mentioned horizontal profiles 11 and thehorizontal cross profiles 12.

These floor slabs 16 preferably have the same dimensions as theabove-mentioned cover plates 15 for the roof, such that these coverplates and floor slabs 15 and 16 are mutually exchangeable.

In order to realise close fitting walls and floors, the above-mentionedcover plates and floor slabs 15 and 16 can be provided with a tooth andgroove system which is not represented in the figures, which can work inconjunction with a tooth and groove system of an adjacent plate.

The above-mentioned cover plates and/or floor slabs 15 and/or 16 arepreferably provided with a thermally insulating layer which is notrepresented in the figures.

In this case, the house 1 is provided with two floors, namely a bottomfloor 17 and a top floor 18, whereby the above-mentioned top floor 18 issituated at the same height as the top wall 5 of the container 2.

It is clear that a house 1 according to the invention can also have onlyone floor or several floors.

The container 2 is in this case provided with a flight of stairs 19,which extends from inside the container 2 to an opening 20 in the topwall 5 of said container 2, such that a connection between theabove-mentioned bottom floor 17 and the top floor 18 is realised.

According to the invention, it is not excluded to provide such a housewith several flights of stairs 19.

The above-mentioned container 2 is preferably also provided with atleast one door 21 which provides access to each of the respectiveextensions 6 from the space inside the container 2.

According to the invention, the constituent parts of the above-mentionedframe 7 and the above-mentioned floor and cover elements can be providedin the above-mentioned container 2 when disassembled.

This offers the advantage that the whole can be transported in a simplemanner and can be conveniently stacked, and that all the required partsalways stay together and are protected against possible theft,vandalism, damage during transport and the like.

The above-mentioned container 2 and the above-mentioned supportingstructure are in this case provided with supporting elements 22 whichcan be adjusted in height.

FIG. 7 represents such a supporting element 22 in greater detail, whichconsists of a guiding shaft 23 which is fixed to a side wall 4 of thecontainer 2 and in which a supporting leg 24 is provided in a slidingmanner by means of a known transmission mechanism in the form of a geartransmission, which is not represented in the figures, which can beexcited by means of a crank 25.

At the bottom, the above-mentioned extending supporting legs 24 areprovided with supporting plates 26 which provide stability to the house1 and whose dimensions depend on the bearing capacity of the bottom onwhich the house 1 is placed.

By means of the above-mentioned extending legs 24, it is possible tolevel the house in a relatively simple manner, even on a broken andsloping ground.

The above-mentioned extending supporting legs 24 must not be manuallyexcited according to the invention, but they can be realised in manydifferent ways, such as for example in the form of hydraulic orpneumatic pistons.

FIG. 8 represents a variant of a house 1 according to the invention,whereby the above-mentioned extensions 6 are made longer than in thepreceding embodiment, as the frame 7 is provided with additionalvertical sections 8.

The above-mentioned cover elements 9 are not restricted to metal coverplates 15 according to the invention, but they can also be realised inthe form of plastic panels, tent cloths or the like.

A method for building a house 1 according to the invention mainlyconsists of successively going through the following stages:

-   -   levelling a container 2;    -   placing a supporting structure in the shape of a frame 7 against        a side wall 4A of the above-mentioned container 2; and    -   fixing floor elements and cover elements to the above-mentioned        frame 7.

The present invention is not restricted to the use of a prismaticconstruction with a triangular cross section either; it can also berealised in the form of other prismatic constructions which make itpossible to use a large number of similar-shaped profiles 9 and 11 andcross profiles 12, for example with a square cross section.

It is clear that the construction of a house according to the inventioncannot only be used for building dismountable houses or emergencyhouses, but that it concerns every construction which is built in thismanner, such as holiday homes, private houses, storage spaces and thelike.

It is also clear that a house 1 according to the invention must notalways be provided with an extension 6 on two side walls 4A of thecontainer 2, but that it is also possible to provide such an extension 6on only one or on more than two side walls 4A of the container 2.

The present invention is by no means limited to the embodiments given asan example and represented in the figures; on the contrary, such a houseaccording to the invention can be made in all sorts of shapes anddimensions while still remaining within the scope of the invention.

1-16. (canceled)
 17. House, adaptable for use as a house that may bedismantled or an emergency house, comprising a container against whichis provided an extension in the form of a prismatic construction, andwhich is built of a supporting structure in the form of a frame andfloor elements and cover elements, wherein the constituent parts of theframe and the cover elements may be placed in the container whendisassembled.
 18. House according to claim 17, wherein the extension isprovided crosswise against a side wall of the container.
 19. Houseaccording to claim 17, wherein the frame comprises parallel, triangularand vertical sections, which are mutually connected by means ofhorizontal cross profiles and whose bottom sides are horizontal and aresituated at the same height as the bottom of the container.
 20. Houseaccording to claim 19, wherein the sections are mutually connected bymeans of one or several cross bracings.
 21. House according to claim 19,wherein each section is an isosceles triangle, each side of which iscomposed of three profiles of equal length.
 22. House according to claim21, wherein the length of the profiles is equal or almost equal to theheight of the container, multiplied by the tangent of 30°.
 23. Houseaccording to claim 17, wherein the frame is built of at least one ofmetal profiles, cross profiles and cross bracings which are connected toeach other by means of metal connecting pieces which hold the profilestogether by means of bolts or the like.
 24. House according to claim 23,wherein for every vertical section the center distance betweenconnecting pieces lying next to each other is equal to the height of thecontainer, multiplied by the tangent of 30°.
 25. House according toclaim 17, wherein the cover elements are formed by cover plates. 26.House according to claim 17, including supporting elements which areadjustable in height.
 27. House according to claim 26, wherein thesupporting elements are formed of extendible supporting legs.
 28. Houseaccording to claim 17, wherein the container is provided with at leastone door which provides access to the extension from the space insidethe container.
 29. House according to claim 17, including one or severalfloors.
 30. House according to claim 17, wherein the container isprovided with one or several flights of stairs, which extend from insidethe container to an opening in the top wall of the container.
 31. Houseaccording to claim 17, wherein on either side of the container there isprovided a prismatic construction, and wherein both prismaticconstructions are connected to each other by means of connectingprofiles, such that they form a whole.